Scary Sh*t Tumblr Cat
The Scary Shit Tumblr Cat, or Soul-Staring Cat ''for a less offensive name, is a TST meme that spawned in late 2011. The original picture has only been used as a meme once, with a newer computer-generated alternative used for later references. Description The entire meme revolves around one single picture: a picture of a black cat. However, this is not just ''any ''black cat. This black cat has a yellow crescent on its forehead. Also, the cat appears to be staring directly at the viewer with thanks to the same effect as the ''Mona Lisa. This effect takes place when a person in a painting/photograph is looking directly at the painter/camera. The effect can be more commonly seen on magazine covers, and this picture shows that it does not only work on humans. The cat's expression appears to be monotonous, but under closer observation the cat may be making a :3 kitteh face. Origin The picture's origin is unknown, but the meme's origin was around the time of WIIB Series 1, when Jon and Rellik were in a call. Jon was screensharing with Rellik and his computer suddenly froze, but he was still able to talk to Rellik. When the screen unfroze, the 'Soul-Staring Cat' suddenly appeared on his screen; Jon suddenly screamed out loud, while Rellik found it very amusing. It turned out that Jon had accidently clicked on a link to a Tumblr page, hence the name of the meme. The 'Soul-Staring Cat' comes from the fact that the picture does genuinely stare into your soul. After seeing the picture, Jon was desperate to rediscover it - particularly to show the likes of Jimmeh, Charleh and Ally. He eventually found it and sent it to them on Skype, at which point the picture became a TST meme: this is the reason why people in TST Skype calls suddenly shout 'CAT'. Appearances Why It's... It's... Brilliant! (2011-2012) The first use of the meme on the TST channel was in the WIIB Halloween special. The James Mason moment was due to happen but James Mason 'had been booked for Never Mind The Buzzcocks, so James May took his place. A furious James Mason (played by Jon) entered the call to complain before being bribed with cookies; his Skype picture was the original Soul-Staring Cat. Hobo Hotel (cancelled) The cat appeared in two separate incarnations of this project. In both of these plans, the cat was intended as one of the characters' pets, initially introduced as being a benign character who seemingly had no effect on the plot, but later turned out to be the room's 'boss'. The second incarnation to feature the Scary Shit Tumblr Cat expanded upon this, saying that defeating the cat as a boss would unlock it and make it available for the player to choose as their own pet. Other The 7th The Chronicles of Divus ''picture, ''Divus Doesn't Break His Neck Anywhere, was an advertisement for a fake TST product called The Kerry Costume. The costume's crotch was hidden by the face of the Soul-Staring Cat. Along the left side of the poster were three 'quotes', from Brian Blessed, Charlie Sheen and the Jonateer himself. Rather interestingly, the poster references WIIB, the first time Kerry appeared on TST, and The TST Beliefs, which Jon claims will be the last time he uses the Kerry meme. The 10th The Chronicles of Divus ''picture, ''Divus Becomes A Hampshire Marijuana Monk and Breaks His Neck Again, was a mocked-up advert for a product called 'The Chris Costume' and featured along the left hand side three 'reviews' or 'quotes'. The bottom quote was from the Soul-Staring Cat, and the quote read "I just ate your soul. It was yummy." The other two quotes were from a dog, and rapper Xzibit. The poster was a parody of Divus Doesn't Break His Neck Anywhere, and was the last chronicle to feature the Soul-Staring Cat. Although the picture survived on the Channel TST majhost account, it fell into disuse at the end of Volume Uno ''of ''The Chronicles of Divus in late 2011, making no appearances in the remaining chronicles of Volume Uno ''or ''Volume Heptagon. The meme remained unused in TST projects throughout 2012, aside from becoming an intended 'boss' in unfinished project Hobo Hotel, and did not reappear in any great capacity until the release of The Kerry Inn in 2013, where an early update saw the cat jump out on players venturing into the cave. Unfortunately, however, as the game draws new communities to TST, the significance of the face has been lost. Outside of TST, Chris (of TST Robot Wars, Team Mario) had used the meme on occasion, such as in the video Confound these cats, they drive me to insanity!. The Cat With Its Facebook Page In early 2012 as a TST marketing tool, the Scary Sh*t Tumblr Cat page was created. The page displayed the cat as a public figure, providing a fictional biography describing the cat's rise to fame. Above: the biography for Scary Sh*t Tumblr Cat, as seen on its Facebook page. The link to the page can be found here. Category:TST Memes